POT PROBLEMS

It may not be the kind of national exposure the Sunshine Coast tourist
industry wanted, but local marijuana grow operations have made the
pages of a well-known magazine.

In the most recent issue of Canadian Geographic magazine, there is a
feature story with photos which include Sechelt's Chris Clay, an
associate of Vancouver's Compassion Club (a club selling marijuana for
chronically ill clients), sitting beside a freshly harvested pile of
marijuana bud, which the photo caption says he is bagging for the
Compassion Club. The glossy picture and story that goes with it can be
found inside the most recent edition of Canadian Geographic Magazine.

With recent news of pot busts in the area, it may not be a surprise to
read Sechelt has made a national magazine as being a supplier for the
Compassion Club.

Just last November, RCMP report local man William (Bill) Small was
charged with producing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and
Sechelt RCMP believe the operation was intended for use in the
Compassion Club.

"I wonder what Mayor Bruce Milne thinks of the blight this puts on
Sechelt," Staff Sgt. Linton Robinson mused.

The mayor was out of town at press-time, but Deputy Mayor Anne Kershaw
expressed shock at the news.

"I'm astounded. I think it may attract a segment of the tourism
population we weren't aiming at," Coun. Kershaw said. "I don't think
it's the kind of publicity Sechelt wants. It might make Sechelt look
like a drug mecca," Kershaw said, adding the news certainly opens here
eyes to the drug problem proliferating on the Sunshine Coast. "Maybe
it will bring some public pressure on the government for better RCMP
staffing. If there's an up side to Sechelt being exposed as some kind
of drug capital, maybe that's it," Kershaw said.

In response to the article in Canadian Geographic, Dean Singh,
President of the Sunshine Coast Tourism Association said, "You have to
take the good with the bad. The Sunshine Coast is just going to have
to counter that message with a more positive one. After all, East
Vancouver has garnered a lot of attention with their drug problem but
it doesn't stop people from marketing the city for tourism."

Chris Clay was unavailable to be reached for comment.